Non-industrial Civil Service: Permanent Staff

Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many men and how many women are at present employed in the United Kingdom by the non-industrial Civil Service.[HL107]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: At 1 April 1998 the Home Civil Service and the Diplomatic Service employed 220,000 male and 231,000 female permanent non-industrial staff. These figures are on a headcount basis, i.e. part-time staff count as one person.

Figures for the Northern Ireland Civil Service, legally a distinct and separate Civil Service for which personnel statistics are compiled by the Department of Finance and Personnel in Belfast, are 14,000 male and 13,000 female.

Figures for the Forestry Commission, which is also legally a distinct Civil Service, are 1,000 male and 1,000 female.

These figures do not include some 17,000 casual non-industrial staff for whom no gender breakdown is available. They do, however, include some 6,000 staff employed overseas.

Northern Ireland: Offences of Violence against the Person

Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many persons have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of "violence against the person" in Northern Ireland in the current and previous four years and whether they can say how many of those charges were dealt with as "scheduled offences".[HL45]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Dubs): The attached table shows the number of persons proceeded against for offences of violence against the person and the number found guilty for the period 1994 to 31 March 1998 (the most recent date available):

Scheduled and non-scheduled offences

Scheduled offences

Year

Persons proceeded against

Persons found guilty

Persons proceeded against

Persons found guilty

1994

2,078

1,498

134

117

1995

2,279

1,685

148

137

1996

2,177

1,597

33

27

1997

2,049

1,594

42

36

1998 to 31 March

489

368

9

8

Note:

1. The computerised records system does not record the number of persons charged. To provide this information would require a large manual check of records across the Province. The table therefore shows the number of persons proceeded against and found guilty for both scheduled and non-scheduled offences.

2. This table records the number of persons convicted as distinct from the number of offences; that is, a person may have been charged with more than one such offence but is counted only once.

14 Dec 1998 : Column WA133

Mr. David Adams: Allegations of Assault

Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the outcome of the inquiry ordered by the Independent Commission for Police Complaints into the case of Mr. David Adams in Northern Ireland; if there is no such outcome so far, when they expect to receive a report; and whether this will be published.[HL150]

Lord Dubs: The Chief Constable has opened an investigation into the allegations of assault on Mr. Adams and referred the case to the Independent Commission for Police Complaints to supervise the investigation. The investigation is being conducted by a team of officers from the Strathclyde Police Force. At the end of the investigation, which is at an advanced stage, the ICPC will issue a statement as to whether the investigation was or was not conducted to its satisfaction. It will then be for the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland to consider whether there is any evidence to warrant criminal proceedings. Once any criminal aspects have been dealt with the matter of whether there are any grounds for disciplinary proceedings will have to be dealt with. This is not an inquiry but a police investigation, and the investigators' report will not be published.

Foreign Visits and Extradition

Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are giving advice to either current or former high profile United Kingdom citizens who may be contemplating overseas travel concerning the possibility of extradition proceedings being taken against them while they are overseas.[HL167]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not in a position to assess the hypothetical risk of individual British nationals becoming the subject of extradition proceedings, which could be served in the United Kingdom as well as overseas.

Sudan

Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have any figures on the carrying out of hudud punishments in the Sudan in the 10 years prior to 1989 compared with the past nine years.[HL174]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We do not keep records of such punishments.

Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 18 November (WA 169), what role the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has in negotiations with the Government of the Sudan on technical assistance for improving the teaching and observance of human rights in Sudan.[HL175]

14 Dec 1998 : Column WA134

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is concerned only with the care and maintenance of refugees. It does not provide wider technical assistance.

Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have offered or provided bilateral technical assistance to the Government of the Sudan for improving the teaching and observance of human rights and in the development of the Government of Sudan's human rights education committees.[HL176]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We have offered funding to raise human rights awareness in Sudan to an NGO working with the Sudanese Ministry of Justice. The NGO has not yet taken up our offer.

Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have offered or provided bilateral funding to assist the Government of Sudan in their investigation of allegations of slavery and human rights violations.[HL177]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We have maintained a dialogue with the Government of Sudan on various aspects of human rights. We have not been asked for funding assistance.

Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:

What information they have received about the alleged massacre of thirty-four traders near the town of Renk in the Upper Nile state in Sudan in early November 1998; and whether they will ask the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Sudan to report on this in his next report.[HL178]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We have received sketchy reports of this incident. We understand that it was an internal tribal dispute which has since ended. We are in contact with the Sudanese Embassy to seek further information.

Lord McNair asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have asked to be provided with the findings of the United Nations internal investigations into the killing, in the summer of this year, of the members of the Operations Lifeline Sudan assessment mission in the Nuba Mountains; and whether they will make their findings public.[HL206]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We have discussed with the United Nations the killings of WFP and Sudanese Red Crescent personnel last June. The victims were part of a convoy delivering relief food in South Kordofan, close to the Nuba Mountains, and were not members of an Operation Lifeline Sudan assessment mission. Such a mission to the Nuba Mountains has yet to take place owing to the continued refusal by the Sudanese authorities to agree to it. The UN has not made public, nor have we asked for a copy of, the findings of what was an internal investigation into the killings.

14 Dec 1998 : Column WA135

Corporal Punishment of Children in the Overseas Territories

Baroness David asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether corporal punishment of children:

(a) in schools;

(b) in residential institutions for children;

(c) in the penal system, either as a sentence of the courts or as a punishment in penal institutions;

is permitted in the following Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom: Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.[HL199]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The available information on corporal punishment of children in the Overseas Territories is as follows: